Well... i went to Harbor Freight tools today and purchased one big 'ol punch. I got the rear shackle/u-bolt undone on the passenger side by prying the ubolt upward with a giant prybar. I got the drivers side undone with the punch resting on the top of the shackle and hitting it repeatedly with the bf hammer
on a side note, I bought a sandblaster and some medium SiC blast media. After I got her together, it didn't take long to get the cowl panel, upper valence and some misc. small parts looking new again! This site is awesome. Thanks for all the help so far!
Dano
